


Something Far Greater

by harpseal111



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, M/M, Orca - Freeform, Slow Burn, animal trainer au, au no one asked for, killer whale trainer au, or probably thought of, or wanted, the first order is seaworld basically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2018-11-06 19:39:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11042955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpseal111/pseuds/harpseal111
Summary: Some people spend their whole lives searching the stars for signs of other intelligent beings. Others look in the ocean and find exactly what they are searching for in the waves and in their reflection.~Reylo Modern AU~





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Killer whale trainer AU? Alright.

She still wasn’t used to it. Living in Washington. All the greenery and cool air. It had been five years and Rey was still adapting to her home. Right after graduation she moved up to Everett. After living for 13 dreadful years in Tuscon Arizona. She packed up with her best friend, Amelia, and they went on their merry way. Everett was their escape from their lives. Rey escaped the greedy hands of her foster father while Amelia ran from an overbearing grandmother. Amelia’s mother funded the trip to Everett and their first few months of rent. Just until they secured a job and could manage themselves. 

 

Rey moved to Everett with one job in mind: killer whale trainer at Puget Sound Park. She had dreamed of this one thing since she was a child. Since kindergarten, she had been enthralled with orcas. She read every book she could get her hands on about them. She was on swim team for 10 years, took college psychology classes in high school, and had a job at the local zoo working on the machinery and building enclosures. 

 

And now here she is, waking up in her own bed at 4am knowing that for the rest of the day she will be working with killer whales. 

 

She can’t help but smile each time her feet hit the floor beside her bed. Opening her drawer, she looks at her array of black swimsuits and thinks about today’s schedule at the park. She’ll start the morning sorting and preparing the fish for the rest of the day. Poe and Jessika would be there with her, helping put the thousands of pounds of fish in their corresponding buckets for their corresponding animals. They would then go their separate ways. Rey would arrive at orca stadium and begin the morning feedings with Finn and some of the other trainers. 

 

Rey really loved Finn. He had been hired as an orca trainer the same time as Rey. They went through countless hours of brutal and trying training to get where they were. He had quickly grown to be her best friend. He was like her family. She trusted him with all that she had. 

 

As Rey rushed out the door, she quickly grabbed a protein bar when Amelia grabbed her car keys off the hook.

 

“No” 

 

“No what?” Rey questioned

 

“No you cannot go to work with only eating a protein bar,” Amelia sternly replied, “You need to eat a full breakfast if you’re gonna be swimming with two ton whales all day”

 

Amelia had recently become very motherly about Rey’s health habits. She recognized how physically demanding the job was and required that Rey could no longer just live off of potato chips and protein shakes. 

 

“Can I just pick up something on my way to work? I need to go, I promised I would be there early to check up on the baby” 

 

Amelia stared at Rey with a questioning look before answering, “Alright, but you have to send me a picture to prove you actually bought something this time”, she yelled as Rey bolted out the door and to her car.

 

* * *

 

 

Rey arrived to work with a hot egg burrito. As she entered the kitchen, she was greeted with the familiar smell of frozen, dead fish and the shouts of her co-workers.

 

“Thank you for bringing us all breakfast, Rey-be” shouted Poe as he carried a pail of ice into the freezer.

 

“Kriff off, it’s for me. Amelia made me pick it up”, Rey immediately got to work, labeling buckets for their corresponding animal. 

 

“Good. Someone needs to fatten you up” Jess quipped from the sink.

 

Rey laughed as she opened up one of the cabinets that housed all the vitamins for the animals. She began pulling them out and sorting them into piles. Each animal had to be fed vitamins. 

 

“So, did you hear the big news?” Poe came up behind Rey. He slammed a bucket labeled ‘Kotor’ down next to her. 

 

“You finally got laid?” she teased as she grabbed a herring and began shoving pills into its gills. 

 

Poe laughed, “No. Management is coming in today to check up on our babies”

 

Rey groaned loudly, “Management is the last thing that these animals need right now”. She put the fish back in the bucket and motioned for Poe to hand her the next bucket. 

 

“Well, as long as it isn’t another inspection, I can live with it. I hate that red-headed asshole” Jess added.

 

“It’s not Hux. They’re sending the new guy, Kylo Ren. He supposed to check up on our training techniques and relationships” Poe replied 

 

“Great. Another person who has no idea what it is like working with these animals is going to come in here and tell  me how to do my job” Rey spat out as she finished her last bucket. She walked over into the freezer to start grabbing her buckets for the morning. 

 

Poe held the freezer door open, “Actually, he used to be a trainer”

 

“What?” Rey was actually surprised.

 

“Yeah, I know. He trained dolphins for four years before being hired by the First Order Amusement Company”

 

“That’ll make today interesting. I’m guessing he’ll be spending most his time at dolphin stadium then?” Rey hoped that what it meant but Poe shook his head.

 

“Sorry babe, you know your whales are our big money makers. He’ll be spending most of his time with you”

 

“What time is he coming?” She groaned as she began walking to the door with her buckets. Poe reached out and ruffled her hair as she passed him.

 

“Noon. And don’t forget to have your wetsuit on when he gets here” Poe shouted as she walked out towards orca stadium.

* * *

 

 Rey entered the stadium and was immediately greeted by two of the whales. Skye and Larka both followed her as she walked to the side pool to begin feeding. She smiled as they swam up to the side of the pool and opened their mouths for the incoming fish. Rey cooed and play talked with Skye as she fed her. Skye was six years old and one of the sassiest whales at the park. She loved to mess around and play with the other whales. She often snubs the male trainers that try to work with her. For some odd reason, she does not like male trainers. Finn jokes and says that she’s a lesbian. She most likely just likes the gentler, more motherly nature of the female trainers.

 

More trainers began to trickle in, each with their buckets for their whales. Rey finished feeding Skye and walked down to C Pool. Inside C Pool was Chita and her new calf. Chita swam the perimeter of the pool, the young calf following her. Rey watched contently as the mother and calf swam. 

“Today’s the big day, right? Integrating more of the pod with Chita and the calf?” Finn had arrived with Chita’s bucket for the morning. Rey nodded as he blew his bridge for Chita to swim by. Chita did not stop to take the fish however. She continued to swim by Finn, but opened her mouth as she swam so he could toss it in. Chita was a great mother and knew the importance of keeping her calf moving. 

 

“Pisces and Tara will be meeting their baby brother for the first time” Rey walked over and put the buckets down. She sat on the edge of the pool, facing Finn. They sat there and talked as Finn threw fish to Chita. 

 

Rey knew that this was going to be the start to a great new day.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and the protags meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter two! I am very surprised at the feed back this story has gotten and I want to thank those who have commented and left kudos! Please enjoy this chapter. It's a little longer than the first

Rey was not even aware that it was noon until she heard bell ring for the trainers to meet in the counseling room. She had been in the middle of a relate session with Kotor when the bell cruelly reminded her of the incoming visitor. After signaling Kotor back into the main tank, she made her way over to the meeting. She passed by the maternity pool and helped Finn with calling Tara back into the back tanks. The integrating had gone very well but it still wasn’t safe to keep other whales in with the baby while the trainers were away. 

“What do you think he’ll be inspecting?” Finn questioned as they walked. 

“Probably all the new trainers progress with their whales. I’m guessing us and the senior trainers won’t have much to worry about” 

“Please let that be the case” Finn murmured under his breath as they entered the room. Most of the other trainers had gotten there and were socializing in hushed tones. Rey looked up over them and saw him standing by the white board.

He was very large. That was the first thing Rey noticed. Then his hair. 

“He’s kinda hot” Poe whispered in her ear. Rey jumped as his breath hit her, immediately turning and hitting him. 

Poe wasn’t wrong. He was very nice to look at. He was talked quietly with one of the senior trainers. He kept pointing to the whiteboard where the schedule was marked down. After a few moments, the senior trainer turned around. 

“Hello everyone. I hope we’re all doing good today. This is Mr. Ren, from management. He’ll be conducting a training inspection today.” 

There was a chorus of groans across the room. Mr. Ren stood up straighter at that and got a stern look on his face. He stepped forward and began to speak,

“I will be focusing primarily on your waterworks training. We’ve heard some complaints about the shows being clumsy. I will monitor the sessions and determine whether or not management needs to get more involved.” His low voice irritated Rey, how it was so attractive but had so much venom behind it.

“Kyrsta and Lewis will be first. Please make sure to practice those hydro jumps with Larka” as the senior trainer announced who would be inspected Rey made eye contact with Ren. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. Rey stood up a little taller as his eyes trailed over her.  
“When Mr. Ren is done with them, he will be walking around supervising everyone. Making sure protocols and safety precautions are being met. Please, remember that during any interactions with the animals to always have a spotter. You are dismissed”

He was still watching her as she turned and walked out of the door. There was something in his eyes that Rey was uneasy about. She shook it off as she headed back to the back pools.

...

Rey spent most the day in a training session with Kotor in the viewing pool. Most of the session was focused on slide out behaviours. Kotor was the oldest whale in their pod, at 42 years old. He was easily Rey’s favorite animal to work with. He was always ready to work with trainers on learning new behaviours but was also a very laid back whale. Sometimes he would just slide up on the slide outs and wait for a trainer to push him back in the water. 

Kotor breached the surface of the water and Rey blew her whistle, signaling that he did a good job and for him to come over to get reinforcements. He came back up to the surface, taking a deep breath, and swam over to where Rey was waiting with a handful of fish.

“Good job Koty” she praised as she threw the fish into his open mouth. 

“Hey Rey, can you pass him over here? Skye was scheduled for the viewing interaction but she is not in a good mood right now.” Leo called from the other end of the pool. He was walking down to the underwater viewing area where a group of children were waiting to play with a whale. 

“No problem” she called back, “I’ll take Skye to practice fast swims”. Rey pointed over to where Leo was standing and blew her whistle. She flicked her wrist once and Kotor swam off to Leo who blew his whistle as he received him. Rey did the same as she received Skye. They made their way to the show pool. It was unoccupied but she saw Krysta and Lewis with Mr. Ren on the main slide-out. He was waving one of his hands in the air in an arch. Lewis and Krysta both nodded their heads after than and Rey assumed it was Mr. Ren’s notes on their water works training. 

Rey went over and opened the gate then signaled Skye inside. The sound of the gate opening had gotten the attention of the group on the slide-out. Rey walked onto the stage on the opposite side of them. 

“Wasn’t Skye scheduled for the underwater viewing?” Lewis shouted.

“Yes but she wasn’t responding so we switched it to Kotor” Rey replied as she called Skye over.   
“What are you gonna do with her?” 

“I was thinking practicing some fast swims and then maybe work on her belly breaches” she dropped down to her knees and began rubbing Skye’s rostrum.

“Mind of I stay and spot for you? I’m not scheduled for anything until toni-”

“I’ll stay and watch” Ren interrupted Lewis, “You two go work on what I told you” he added sharply. Lewis and Krysta then turned and left, leaving Rey alone in the stadium with Mr. Ren. She felt her cheeks begin to burn as he stared at her. Skye opened her mouth and let out a small shriek. Rey laughed at this call then stood up. With a flick of her hand and a long blow of her whistle, Skye lined up next to the stage, waiting for Rey. 

Rey always got a rush from riding a whale. It never dulled into normalcy for her. Each time was like the first. Exhilarating and terrifying. A smile spread across her face as she stepped onto Skye’s back. Her back foot was perpendicular to Skye’s dorsal while her front was place behind her blow hole, pointing forward. Rey leaned down and put two fingers to Skye’s side. She quickly ran them along Skye’s skin in a jagged motion. Skye began to swim, picking up speed as she went. Water flew up, splashing Rey in the face. She used her arms to balance and steady her feet. 

Her feet felt everything. How the muscles in Skye’s back muscles tightened and relaxed as she swam. Rey turned her head slightly so she could watch as Skye’s fluke would dig into water, propelling her faster through the pool. Everything about this animal screamed power and magnificence. 

As she passed by the slide out where Mr. Ren stood, Rey straightened her back and set her eyes sternly forward. She wanted to look tough. Honest. Not like some gleeful little kid, grinning after they’d ridden a bike for the first time. His expression stayed hard and unresponsive as she passed. 

Rey blew her whistle as they neared the main stage once again. Skye slowed down and Rey stepped off her, blowing the whistle one short time as her feet hit the stage. She ran back behind a part of the stage and grabbed a handful of gelatin from the cooler. Skye waited for her, mouth open. Glancing towards the slide out, Rey noticed that Mr. Ren had moved from his spot and was walking around the tank, towards the gate to the main stage. Rey threw the gelatin in Skye’s mouth. 

The gate creaked open then shut as Mr. Ren spoke, “She has incredible power. I’m surprised were you able to stay on the whole time with your sloppy footwork”

“Excuse me,” Rey stood up and turned towards him sharply.

“It’s true,” He looked her up and down again, “your stance was off and your balancing was poor. Don’t get me started on your posture”

Rey huffed as she stared him down. She raised a hand, pointing her finger at him, “Who do you think you are? My posture and stance were perfectly fine”

“If that, my dear, is your definition of fine then I know exactly why I was called down here by management” Mr. Ren sneered at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him then quickly walked past him to the gate. She wanted to get out of there as fast as she could before she lashed out and did something that would get her fired. Her feet clanged on the gate as she walked across it and jumped down onto the pavement. She heard hard footsteps behind her and Mr. Ren shouting, “You need a teacher”.

She whipped around fast, “You can go shove it” she hissed through her teeth, “I have trained long and hard with her. Excuse me if I ignore the criticism of a man who has never worked with this animal before. You think I’m sloppy? You go and stand on the back of a two ton killer whale as she goes 15 miles per hour and see how your stance and posture is.”

She turned back again before he could reply and stormed off. 

...

To say Rey was pissed would be an understatement. Rey spent the last four hours of her day fuming off to Poe and Jessica in dolphin stadium. She hadn’t been scheduled for anything else with the whales and she had no desire to stick around and chance running into Ren. So she bunkered down in the underwater gym at dolphin stadium. They had already finished all of their shows for the day so most the trainers were working on small training sessions or socializing sessions with the animals. Rey told Poe what had happened with Mr. Ren.

“Man, he actually said it like that?” Poe questioned

“Yes,” Rey groaned as she flopped on the floor, “He was so rude. I just wanted to slap him or push him in the water and sic Skye on him”  
Poe laughed at that. They continued to sit there and talk until Rey had to go back for the closing meeting. She bid farewell to Poe and Jess and made her way back across the park to orca stadium. When she entered the staff room, Finn charged at her, “Peanut, where have you been? I thought you were gonna be with me for the end of the day?”

“I know Finn, and I’m sorry I ditched you, I just couldn’t stay in here anymore” 

“What happened? Was Skye that bad toda-”

“No, it wasn’t Skye. It was Mr. Ren. He got all up on me about my water works with her” Rey grumbled.

Finn looked at her warily before speaking, “Please tell me you didn’t flip out on him Rey”

Rey said nothing and cast her eyes downward a little. She felt heat rise up into her cheeks.

“Rey” he whined

“I know, it was stupid!” she whispered angrily towards him as he ran his hand own his face. Before he could reply, the senior trainer called the meeting.

“Great day everyone! I was really happy with the progress we made with the baby today and out breaching training” Rey began to tune him out at this point. Closing meetings were always the same and all she wanted to do was get home, crawl in her bed, and pretend like today never happened. She stared at her feet, then began playing with her bridge, running her fingers over the metal length. Her eyes flicked up and looked around the room. The other trainers were shuffling where they stood, all eager to go home and rest. Three trainers sat at the table with coffee, preparing for their long night as night trainers. Rey had a week of night trainer shifts at the end of the month and was not too eager about them either.

Then her eyes fell onto Mr. Ren, whose eyes were also on her. They made short eye contact before he turned and walked out the door. Rey quickly turned her head back to look at the senior trainer. He watched as Ren walked out of the room and when the door had shut, he looked at them all with a tired look.

“One last thing. Mr. Ren feels that today was not enough time to properly evaluate us. He will be staying and training with us for the next month. One trainer will be assigned to be with him and train with him as he is with us. He requested for the trainer to be you Rey”

“Well shit”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whale you please leave some comments and kudos below ;D 
> 
> If anyone has any questions on what these behaviors look like or on orcas in general, feel free to ask! I am happy to answer! 
> 
> Thank you


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the late update. I work three jobs and they all got real hectic these last few weeks. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Rey fumed all the way home. When she first got in her car, she actually screamed out in frustration. Why? Did the universe just have it out for her?

Apparently.

Now Rey was stuck with a stick-in-the-mud watching her every move for who knows how long. Not only was he a stick-in-the-mud, but, he also had a stick-up-his-ass. A stick that she planned on impaling him with if he continued being the little bitch.

When Rey got home that night she immediately told Amelia what had happened. Amelia sat and listened quietly and when Rey finished recounting the story she asked, “Is he at least hot?”

“Seriously?”, Rey threw herself into a chair, exhausted and annoyed by Amelia’s question, “I just tell you about how much of a dick this guy is and how he’ll probably ruin my job for the next few months, and you want to how attractive he is?”

Amelia tossed a grape into her mouth and argued, “Well at least if he’s hot, he won’t be unbearable to look at. I’m just trying to find the positives in this situation”

“Believe me, there isn’t one”

“That’s how every love story starts out hun”, she grinned, looking at Rey mischievously.

Rey laughed, “Oh no. No no no no, do not start thinking that. This is not some lovey-dovey Nicholas Sparks movie. This is some real life shit”

Amelia just shrugged her shoulders and threw another grape into her mouth. Rey groaned and let her head fall onto the table. She sat like that for awhile, just listening to Amelia crunch her grapes. They sat in almost silence for about ten minutes before Amelia asked, “you gonna hit the hay? Or stay up all night sulking?”

She scoffed before lifting her head up, “I’ll go to bed when I’m done sulking, thank you very much”

Amelia raised her hands in mock submission as she left the kitchen. After Rey heard her door slam shut she dropped her head back onto the table. 

Yep, the universe hated her.

…

Rey’s alarm rang and for a moment her life was normal again. She stretched and hit her snooze button, smiling, before it all came crashing back down onto her. Today was her first day with Mr. Ren as her “shadow”. Her day suddenly seemed a lot bleeker. For the first time ever, Rey did not want to go to work.

No, Rey scolded herself, You will not let some tall-ass office man ruin your happiness.

She looked into her mirror, gave a big fake smile, and whispered, “Let’s do this”

…

She first saw him in the locker room after she had clocked in. He was awkwardly standing by a set of lockers, watching as the other trainers filled in and began putting on their wet suits. They were all talking, joking, and laughing. Rey couldn’t help her grin as she watched him. He was utterly pathetic in this situation. His height, hair, and ears already made him look awkward but this looked like a scene out of a high school sit-com. He stared at a few of the other trainers, but for the most part avoided eye contact. Until he saw Rey. 

She walked into the room and headed for her locker. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he stood up straighter before making his way over to her. Her wetsuit was in her hand when he got to her.

“I am going to need one of those” He pointed to the suit in her hands

“Good morning to you too” Rey grumbled as she began to put on the suit. She could feel his eyes on her as she dressed. After her suit was on, she grabbed her bridge before turning to him.

“What’s our plan for today,” he raised his eyebrows at her, “more of your lousy footwork”.

Rey glared up at him before smiling, “Not today, no. This morning we’ll go get you a wetsuit then head over to the back pool and work with the baby and mama on a training session”

“Do we attend the morning feeding?” 

“Well I didn’t say we were, so no. It’s been covered for today” Rey practically spat at him, but she kept herself well composed. “Let’s go get you that wetsuit”

…

Seeing a man like Mr. Ren in a body fitting wetsuit was rater amusing. As they began walking towards the back pool, Rey noticed his well toned body. He really wasn’t that bad to look at.

“When shall I be getting a bridge?” He asked as they walked. Rey laughed.

“I’m surprised you know what they are called. And you will not be getting one until later. You’ll need to learn the different calls and signals first.” 

He just nodded. Rey was surprised by his lack of argument. 

“Why are we doing a training session with a young calf? Won’t it just get in the way?” Mr. Ren said as he watched Chita swim with her calf following beside her.

“Mr. Ren-”

“Kylo” He interrupted. Rey quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Kylo?”

“If we are to be working together these next few months, it will be easier if you call me by my first name instead of mister all the time” He quipped. 

“Alrighty then, Kylo. We are doing a training session with Chita because it’s way for us to start teaching the calf. He watched his mother react to the calls and can begin to learn how to do some behaviors. It will be very simple today. Just some spy-hopping, swims, and a few jumps” Rey looked at Kylo as she finished. His eyes were on Chita but he nodded to let her know he was following her. 

Rey watched his eyes as he watched Chita swim laps around the pool. There was something familiar in the way his eyes tracked their movements. Rey couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was exactly. She let out a sigh before clapping her hands together, spooking him out of his trance, and saying, “Let’s get started”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short, I know, but I'm writing this after work at 12:40am. Please leave a comment below.
> 
> Also, if you ever need me to explain what anything means, mention it in the comments. If I get enough people asking, Ill make a master post about it for the story. 
> 
> Thank you


	4. Chapter 4

One of the best things about working at a marine park is the constant sound of water. Whether it was the loud splash of an animal breaching the surface, or a calm ripple hitting the poolside, it was soothing.

Except right now when all Rey wanted to do was jump in and get away from Kylo Ren. The water was making her anxious, knowing that if Kylo did not like her, he could easily have her fired. And Kylo Ren did not seem to like her.

So far he had said very little and when he did open his mouth, it was to make some jackass comment on her. They had left the locker room and Rey was already fuming. They hadn’t even interacted with any of the animals yet. Rey could not wait for the day to be over as they walked over to the back pool holding Chita and her calf.

Chita was lapping the tank when Rey signaled her over. She turned and swam towards Rey and Kylo, her small calf right by her side. Rey had to smile as she watched the tiny calf. She loved to watch how he mimicked his mother’s every move.

“Can you go grab me a bucket of fish from that shed?” she asked Kylo as Chita approached. Kylo looked over at the shed and began towards it. After he was a good distance away, Rey turned to Chita and began to coo at her, “And how is our big mama today?”. For some reason she did not feel like Kylo would like her cooing at a thirty year old whale. Rey knew she looked and sounded completely stupid. Her coo voice could be compared to the voice one uses on a small child they want to please. Her voice went up an octave, and she leaned forward onto her knees. She used her hands a lot for expressions and would make high pitched encouragement noises.

Rey got down and knelt in front of Chita, “And look at that baby, so big and strong. Mama must be very happy, huh? Aren’t you Chita? Yeah ” Chita began to nod her head and Rey giggled as she did the same, looking Chita in the eye as she continued to say “yeah” in beat with her nodding. She reached out and scratched Chita’s rostrum.

  
Rey jumped at the clash of the bucket of fish dropped next to her, clanging and startling her and Chita out of their nodding competition. Chita slowly opened her mouth and began making clicking vocalizations. She looked up at Kylo who simply raised one eyebrow at her. Her brows knit together as she glared at him. Quickly rising to her feet with her bucket in hand, Rey cleared her throat, “Thank you. Now we can start”

Rey looked directly at Chita and gave two quick blows into the whistle. With the sound of her bridge, Chita swam off into the center of the pool, her calf following. She disappeared under the water for a few moments then slowly rose up out of the water, until her eye was out. Then she slowly sank back into the water. Her calf copied her, to the best of his abilities. Rey immediately blew a sharp whistle when Chita had completed the behaviour, signaling that she had done a good job and could return to Rey for reinforcements.

“Good girl”, Rey exclaimed as she threw a handful of fish into Chita’s mouth. She reached forward and began rubbing her rostrum. Rey looked up at Kylo. He stood there, his arms crossed as he watched her. Hitting his leg with her shoulder, Rey nodded at him kneel down next to her. He complied. Kylo looked positively awkward kneeling beside her.

“Now that I am down here, what would you like me to do?” he said quickly. Rey smiled.

“Rub her rostrum”

Kylo turned his head to look at her fully. She had a wide grin on her face. Kylo groaned.

“Have you not rewarded her enough? We can’t over ind-”

“This isn’t about me rewarding her good behaviour now. It’s about you bonding with a whale” Rey interrupted. Kylo opened his mouth to retort but closed it. He sat there, not moving. Rey let out a sigh of annoyance then reached down and grabbed his hand. She squeezed it in hers before slowly placing it on Chita’s rostrum, watching the animal’s reaction as she did so. Chita was calm as she placed Kylo’s hand on her. Rey kept her hand on top of Kylo’s. She held it still for awhile then began to move it around and looked at Kylo expectantly.

“You do know how to pet an animal, right?”, she quipped at him. He shot her an annoyed glance and then began to slowly move his hand in a petting motion on Chita.

“Is that so hard?” Rey teased as she saw him get more comfortable. Kylo let out a breath as Chita raised her head to meet his hand. As she watched him, Rey could have sworn she saw what looked like a smile grace his lips for a second. She saw the same look in his eyes from earlier as he gazed at the animal in front of him. His eyes darted to the calf as he swam around his mother. Again, a small flicker of a smile was on his lips. Then, as if he was burned, he immediately withdrew his hand, once again becoming withdrawn and menacing.

“Is this the most productive way to spend our time?” He shot at her. Rey turned her head sharpley to fully face him.

“You know, for someone who’s supposed to be professional orca behaviorist, you don’t seem to know very much” her voice was sharp as she spoke.

He glared at her, “And what makes you think that?”

Rey laughed, “Look at you, you could barely even pet a whale without me to guide you. I’ve watched children pet her with more expertise than you. And you keep questioning me anytime I try to show positive reinforcement other than with food. You do know that relationship building is the key part to this whole thing?”, she gestured to the stadium and pools surrounding them.

Kylo was quiet as she stared at him. She waited for him to shout or say something about how she was totally wrong but he didn't. He continued to just stare at the water in silence. Annoyed, she stood up and signaled for Chita to do another spy hop. As Chita swam back to the center of the pool Kylo stood up. He still said nothing and just watched as Rey finished the training session.  
When the bucket of fish and ice was empty Rey practically threw it into Kylo’s hands and then began walking away towards the shed. When she got to the shed he was next to her putting the used bucket back as she grabbed a bucket of ice and gelatin.

“You’re right”

Rey froze, did he just-

“Honestly I haven’t done this in many years and I’ve forgotten. Guess that happens when you spend years sitting in an office” he said simply and then turned and walked back to the pool. Rey stayed still a few moments longer, puzzled. She quickly processed the situation then let out an exasperated laugh as she walked back to him by the pool.

“You know, maybe you aren’t a complete jackass” Kylo laughed as she said it.

“Careful, I could write you up for swearing in front of a minor” He reached over and grabbed a hunk of gelatin from her bucket and threw it into water in front of Chita. She looked up at him and saw his eyebrows raised in humor. Rey just shook her head smiling. Maybe this isn’t the worst set up in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is a super late update. I am so so so sorry to all of y'all. I am hoping to be better at this now. The next chapter will be longer. 
> 
> Someone asked what a bridge is (in reference to the story). A bridge is just what trainers call their whistles. So the skinny silver whistles around their necks.
> 
> https://youtu.be/zl7F6rhDp70 ( this is a video with the clicking sounds that Chita makes )
> 
> Enjoy the new chapter.
> 
> Leave kudos and comments! Comments make the heart happy.


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